Portrait of the tulafale ali'i (orator chief) called Tafua Fa'aususu

This is a portrait of Tafua Fa'aususu, who was a prominent leader in 19th century Samoa. It is one of many portraits made by New Zealander Thomas Andrew who had a photography business in Samoa in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Tafua Fa'aususu

In this image Tafua Fa'aususu is seated, and wearing an ornate ula (shell necklace) and a siapo (decorated tapa cloth). He is holding a fue (flywhisk) one of the accessories that symbolises his status as a tulafale ali'i (orator chief).

The Tafua chiefly title

The Tafua title is an important ali'i title from the village of Salea'aumua. The title and Tafua Fa'aususu were at the centre of one of the first formally recorded Land and Titles disputes in 1908. The dispute was centred around the rights of two Samoan titleholders holding the same title simultaneously. Samoan historian Malama Meleisea has documented this title dispute in detail. See references..

References

Meleisea M 1992 Change and Adaptations in Western Samoa.Christchurch: Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury.page 36

Meleisea M 1987 The Making of Modern Samoa: traditional authority and colonial administration in the modern history of Western Samoa.Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific.pp 72-74